Hugo Destaillats
Hugo Destaillats
Bio
Hugo Destaillats is a Senior Scientist at the Indoor Environment Group, in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division. He has been a scientist at LBNL since 2003. Hugo obtained a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), and has been a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology and UC Davis.
Research Interests
- Environmental chemistry of the built environment and urban systems
- Indoor air quality. Sources and chemical transformations of indoor pollutants
- Pathways of exposure to harmful contaminants, and the associated health impacts
- Development and assessment of air purification technologies
- With LBNL’s Heat Island Program, working towards the development and rating of novel “cool” building envelope materials (roofs and walls) that help save energy and mitigate the urban heat island effect
- Environmental application of catalysis, photocatalysis and other advanced remediation technologies
- Full list of publications
- Media coverage
- Patents
Highlights
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September 2022: Thirdhand exposures to tobacco-specific nitrosamines through inhalation, dust ingestion, dermal uptake, and epidermal chemistry. |
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April 2021: |
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September 2019: |
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September 2019: |
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| August 2018: LBNL Director's Award for exceptional achievement - Societal Impact Awarded to the Thirdhand Smoke Research Team |
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April 2018: |
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| November 2016: R&D 100 Award for the development of an accelerated aging practice to simulate effects of natural exposure on radiative properties of cool roofing materials |
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January-February 2017: Our article on emissions from electronic cigarettes was featured in the cover of ES&T Emissions from electronic cigarettes: Key parameters affecting the release of harmful chemicals M. Sleiman, J.M. Logue, V.N. Montesinos, M.L. Russell, M.I. Litter, L.A. Gundel, H. Destaillats. Environ. Sci.Technol., 2016, 50, 9644-9651. |
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| May 2015: Our method for accelerated aging of cool roofing materials was accepted as ASTM Standard D7897-15. |
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Education
Awards
2018 Director’s Awards for Exceptional Achievement: Societal Impact - August 08th 2018
This multidisciplinary and cross-divisional team is honored for decade-long research accomplishments culminating in their discovery that thirdhand smoke, a new tobacco hazard, increases lung cancer risk in mice. This achievement is vital for protecting and improving public health nationwide.
2016 R&D 100 Award: Cool Roof Time Machine - November 09th 2016
A Berkeley Lab-led team of scientists established a method to simulate soiling and weathering of roofing material, reproducing in the lab in only a few days what would naturally take three years. This “cool roof time machine” protocol has been approved by ASTM International, a widely referenced standards body, as a standard practice for the industry, and is expected to accelerate deployment of cool roofs, which have been shown to reduce a building’s energy use and mitigate the urban heat island effect.
R&D Magazine’s annual R&D 100 Awards recognize the top 100 technology products from industry, academia, and government-sponsored research. For more information on the awards, see the links below.